The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the findings of a forensic investigation into an alleged X account linked to Prof. Joash Amupitan, its chairman.
In a statement issued on Monday by Adedayo Oketola, the chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, the commission said the probe established that the account, @joashamupitan, did not belong to Amupitan and that all associated posts were “fraudulent and part of a coordinated disinformation effort”.
The controversy began on April 10 when screenshots circulated online alleging that the INEC chairman operated the account and posted a political comment, “Victory is sure”, allegedly in response to another user.
The claims were further amplified with purported evidence, including emails, phone numbers, Bank Verification Number (BVN) details and OPay data, which were presented by some social media users as proof of ownership.
However, INEC said it commissioned an independent cybersecurity forensic team to conduct a multi-layered digital investigation using platform data, archives and open-source intelligence tools.
According to the report, “Prof. Amupitan does NOT operate any personal X (Twitter) account,” adding that the alleged posts were “fraudulent, technically impossible and digitally manipulated”.
The statement also revealed that the disputed account underwent suspicious changes on the same day the screenshots went viral, including a username change from @joashamupitan to @sundayvibe00 before being set to private and later labelled a parody account.
“This is clearly a damage-control tactic by an impersonator seeking to eliminate a digital trail,” Oketola said.
INEC further dismissed claims linking the account to the chairman’s email, phone number or BVN, describing such assertions as baseless.
“The X platform would have confirmed linkage if any genuine association existed. There is no connection whatsoever,” the statement added.
The commission also highlighted what it described as a critical inconsistency in the viral screenshots, noting that the alleged reply appeared to be timestamped before the original post existed.
“The reply was shown 13 minutes before the original post. This is physically impossible and confirms the screenshots were fabricated,” it said.
INEC added that a live search of the platform showed no evidence that such posts ever existed, while also pointing to similar impersonation attempts across Facebook and Instagram.
The commission said the forensic report had been handed over to security agencies for further investigation and prosecution under Nigeria’s Cybercrimes Act, urging law enforcement to identify those behind the alleged coordinated disinformation campaign.
